Door latch strike plate



A ril 11, 1950 J. E. YEAKEL 2,503,536

DOOR LATCH STRIKE PLATE Filed Dec. 17, 1948.

E 5 i A IN V EN TOR.

E192 gmamakez v Patented Apr. 11, 1950 UN [TED STATES FATE N F .F I CE I (2,503,536 7 DOoR LATGH STRIKE PLATE I 1 .Jacob Elwood ,Yeakel, 'iDonveig, :Qolo.

Application December 17, 1948,.Se1ialN9. 65i856 V This invention relates to door locks and more particularly to an improved adjustable strike plate .for use therewith.

It is well known that wooden :doors often-shrink; especially when they .arenew and the lumber is green, this shrinkage changing the relative position of the door latch bolt and the strike plate with which it cooperates. With the strike plates now in-general use, this necessitates repositioning the strike plate-on the door jamb which is usually accomplished by inserting a shim or shims behind the latch plate. Also, in certain climates, doors will swell during the humid season, thus positioning the latch bolt closer to the latch plate, and during the dry season shrink, causing the reverse effect. Where the conventional strike plate is employed it must therefore be repositioned with shims several times a year.

It has been proposed to obviate the foregoing cumbersome procedure by providing latch plates which may be readily adjusted. These devices, so far as is known, have not achieved any appreciable success, probably because of their complexity and the attendant relatively high cost of manufacture. An adjustable strike plate, if it is to replace the conventional fixed nonadjustable strike plate, which can be sold very cheaply, must necessarily be extremely simple in construction so that it can be manufactured at a cost comparable to fixed strike plates.

The principal objects of this invention therefore are to provide an adjustable strike plate which is extremely simple in construction, can be economically manufactured and may be employed either as original equipment, or as a replacement for present nonadjustable strike plates.

Other objects, advantages, and salient features will become apparent from a consideration of the description to follow, the appended claim and the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section through a door jamb and the adjustable strike plate installed therein;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the door jamb showing the position of the latch plate when the door is in shrunk condition;

Figure 3 is a section taken online 3--3, of Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is a plan view to reduced scale of the latch plate after being blanked out before it has been formed to shape.

Referring in detail to the drawing, there is shown a door jamb Ill and door Il provided with a latch bolt I2 which is moved into the door latch by rotating the door knob l3 and is spring urged .1 alarm. (01. 292-341.18)

outwardly, all @of which is conventional and well understood in the art. I The strike plate It which constitutes the subject of the invention, is formed preferably as a stain-ping, :the plate being box shaped with a front plate It, side walls i6; =16, and end walls H, A lip i8 is formed from material which would otherwise form a portion of one side wall at "the" cut-out portion indicated by reference character I 9. As a matter of actual construction, as best shown in'Figure 4, thestr-ike plate is first blankedfrom a generally =rectangularsheet'of heavyigauge metal, the corners being cut out and the opening 20, which receives the latch bolt, also being punched out. In event the strike plate is for an outside door which requires a look, a second opening 2| is also punched out, the latter receiving the conventional bolt in the door lock which is operated either by a key or suitable knob on the inside of the door. The sides l6, I6, and ends I1, I! are then folded at right angles to the front plate 15, the lip [8 being also curved as best shown in Figure 3, and the front wall It, as viewed in Figure 1, being sheared along the dotted lines adjacent lip [9 as shown in Figure 4. This is only one mode of construction and is given for purpose of illustration only, and it is to be understood that all operations above referred to may be performed by a combined blanking and forming die in a single operation.

The strike plate Hi, just described, is preferably of the same outside dimensions as the conventional fixed strike plate which it replaces. If used as a replacement, the mortise in the door would normally be out somewhat deeper and the ledges which normally abut the ends of the fixed latch plate cut away also to form a rectangular opening with all sides thereof extending from the face of the door jamb at right angles thereto and to the bottom wall 22 of the mortise. This rectangular opening should be chiseled out so that the strike plate fits it closely whereby the side and end walls of the opening form guides for the corresponding side and end walls of the strike plate.

To render the strike plate readily adjustable, a metal plate 23 having tapped holes 24 is secured to the bottom wall 22 of the mortise by wood screws 25, the tapped holes receiving machine screws 26 which are rotatable in the latch plate but precluded from axial movement relative thereto. This latter construction is achieved by employing a conventional fiat head screw which fits into a corresponding countersunk hole 2'! in the strike plate and to which a nut 28 is secured by welding, or the like, a washer 29 being interposed between the nut and plate, if desired. Thus the flat head and countersunk hole provide abutment means to move the plate inwardly of the mortise and the washer and nut provide abutment means to move it outwardly. Thus rotation of the screws 26 in one direction or the other, moves the plate inwardly or outwardly, as desired, to properly position the strike plate with respect to the latch bolt [2.

In Figure 3 the door is shown in shrunk condition with a considerable gap 30 between the door jamb and door. This gap would normally be sealed with a suitable Weatherstrip. It is to be observed that since the outer side and end walls of the strike plate form a continuous wall projecting outwardly of the door jamb, these walls prevent entry of air through that portion of the periphery of the door where the strike plate is located.

While the strike plate has been described as constructed from a stamping, it will become apparent that if desired it may also be a casting. When so constructed the cut out l9 may be omitted if desired and the side walls made continuous. Also, if it be desired to construct the inside side wall without the cut-out l9 when made from a stamping, the inside side wall [6 may be folded down identical to the outside side wall and the lip l8 welded to the latch plate.

. Many other modifications Will occur to those skilled in the art within the spirit of the invention and it is therefore not desired to limit the 4 invention to the precise disclosure except as falls within the scope of the claim.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A door latch construction comprising, a rectangular strike plate formed of sheet metal, the side and end walls being folded at right angles to the outer wall thereof, the outer wall having an integral lip formed from the material of one of the side walls, at least one screw bodily carried by the outer wall for movement therewith, having a head thereon engageable with the wall for moving the plate in one direction and abutment means thereon also engageable with the wall for moving the plate in the opposite direction, a plate adapted to be secured to a door jamb in the bottom of a mortised recess into which the strike plate is slidably arranged, said plate being threaded to receive the screw.

JACOB ELWOOD YEAKEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

